O'Hare International Airport is going to the goats

Goats, also known as nature's lawnmowers, will be used at the Chicago airport to keep the creeping flora at bay.

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport will welcome a few extra visitors next month in addition to the tens of millions of people who pass through its gates each year, when a herd of goats settles in for the summer.

Their job is simple: eat, eat, then eat some more.

The goats, herded by a shepherdess, are expected to clear around 250 square feet of vegetation each day and will move around the O'Hare complex, trimming as they roam. O'Hare officials decided to go with goats over conventional mowers because they offer a more delicate and sustainable solution — they won't impact sensitive areas as much as heavy mowers would, they operate without creating net-positive CO2 emissions, and they'll leave behind fertilizer when they poop.

The goats are owned by Butcher & Burger, a local burger joint/butchery and are destined to someday become food, but will, in the meantime, have some good years eating away at the fringes of an airport. Not a bad life for a goat.

Shea Gunther is a podcaster, writer, and entrepreneur living in Portland, Maine. He hosts the popular podcast "Marijuana Today Daily" and was a founder of Renewable Choice Energy, the country's leading provider of wind credits and Green Options. He plays a lot of ultimate frisbee and loves bad jokes.